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UK-based Standard Chartered Bank filed a draft prospectus to raise a minimum of $500 million in the form of Indian depositary receipts. "The issue will increase our market visibility and brand profile, apart from giving Indian investors an opportunity to participate in our growth," Peter Sands, Standard Chartered group CEO, said in a release. Ten IDRs will equal one share in the bank.

Meanwhile, eight Indian companies raised capital using depositary receipts and listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange in the first quarter of 2010, versus only one such listing in the same period last year. "Global investor demand for Indian companies remains high, as evidenced by the uptake of this latest group of wide-ranging DR programs," says Michael Cole-Fontayn, chief executive of BNY Mellon's depositary receipts business. BNY Mellon acted as depositary for seven of the eight new issuers.

India has the largest number of companies with sponsored DR programs, according to the bank. The new listings bring the total to 288 programs across more than 30 industries. Ten companies based in India made initial DR offerings in all of 2009, so this year's pace is running well ahead of last year. The value of the offerings in the first three months of 2010 exceeded $200 million and was up 512% from the first quarter of 2009, according to BNY Mellon.